Dangerous Pursuit (OSI Dark Ops #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“Thanks, Doc.” Calliope hugged him, and she and Lucas walked back toward the reception area.

She’d wanted to stop by and thank Doc again for taking such good care of her dad and to introduce Lucas to him and Nancy.

“Give my best to your dad.” Nancy pushed herself back from the desk and stood. “If it’s all right, I’d like to stop by later to drop off a cherry pie I made for him.” She blushed and added, “for all of you.”

“They’ll love it, and the timing is perfect—they just polished off the apple pie I made.” A brilliant idea came to her. “Actually, if you’re not doing anything later, you should just stick around and join us for supper. Granddad’s making his famous low-country boil.”

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude.” She came around from behind the counter.

“Don’t be silly. You’re always welcome.” She was practically family. “We’ll be eating around six thirty, but feel free to come out early, if you’d like. ”

“Well, all right then. Thank you.” She hugged Calliope. “It was nice to meet you, Lucas.”

“You, too, Nancy.” He shook her hand. “We’ll see you later.”

“Nancy,” Doc called out from his office.

“Duty calls. I’ll see you in a bit.” She walked away, and Calliope could’ve sworn there was a slight skip to her step.

They left the office, strolled down the narrow sidewalk, and headed toward the general store to get the things on Granddad’s list.

“Nancy seems nice.” Lucas threaded his fingers through hers, and they walked hand in hand for the whole town to see.

“Yeah, she’s the best, and she’d be great for my dad,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure my dad has a secret thing for her, too.”

Nancy had always been sweet on her dad, but he was either too dense to notice or too out of practice to act on his own attraction. Calliope loved the idea of the two of them together, and her dad deserved to be with a good person like Nancy.

“Ah, playing matchmaker, are we?” He raised their joined hands and kissed her knuckles.

“You better believe it.” She’d stayed out of it, hoping her dad would open his eyes to what was right in front of him, but it was time to give him a gentle nudge. “Unlike my real mom, Nancy has always been there for me whenever I had girl things to deal with.”

“Do you ever think about finding her?” He swept aside a strand of hair that fluttered across her face.

Calliope thought back over the years without her mother.

“I used to imagine finding her one day but not so much anymore.” Her life had always been very rich and full of happiness, contentment, and people who loved her deeply for exactly who she was. “Granddad likes to say, ‘It’s her loss for leaving such a beautiful, smart little girl.’”

“He’s completely right about that.” He stopped, faced her, and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. “But if you ever change your mind about looking for her, I’m here for you.”

And now she had Lucas in her life, too.

“Thanks, and I’m here for you, too.” She kissed him back, and they continued their stroll to the store.

“Lunch was great.” He stopped to look at the window display in the small sporting goods store.

“I know, right?” The Town Diner had been there for three generations. What it lacked in name creativity, it made up for with amazing food. “Most of the main ingredients are locally sourced from farms right around here.”

“Yoooo hoooo!” Marjorie’s irritating singsong voice scraped down her back like nails on a chalkboard. That voice had always irritated the shit out of Calliope .

They turned around, and there she was—one hand across her forehead blocking the sun, the other waving them over to the porch of the Victorian-style house painted in nausea-inducing shades of pink. Seriously, it was like a giant bottle of Pepto Bismol threw up all over it.

As usual, her hair and makeup were all done up, and today she was wearing a pink dress that was way too tight and way too revealing. Even for her. Good thing she stopped waving, because her giant, fake boobs would’ve plopped right out.

Calliope’s weren’t very big, but at least they were original equipment.

They checked for traffic and jogged across the street. Lucas swung open the white picket gate, waited for Calliope to go through, and they made their way up the flower-lined walk.

She did not appreciate the way Marjorie’s eyes traveled over Lucas’s body like she was sizing him up.

“What is it, Marjorie?” She firmed up her grip on Lucas’s hand.

“I have a message for my guest.” Marjorie came down the steps like she was in a pageant or something. She looked down her slightly crooked nose at Calliope, slinked her way up to Lucas, and stood way too damn close to him.

It always brought her a tiny slice of satisfaction whenever she saw Marjorie’s nose, knowing she’d been the one to cause that slight imperfection .

“Yes?” Lucas released Calliope’s hand, wrapped his arm over her shoulders, and pulled her into his side.

Marjorie’s gaze was drawn to his arm. She took in his silent display of possessiveness and realized she was barking up the wrong tree.

Lucas wasn’t some hormone-driven teenage boy to be easily lured away by her fading feminine wiles.

“A gentleman stopped by looking for you earlier.” Having lost her chance with him, she put some space between herself and Lucas.

“Looking for me?” He glanced down at Calliope, then back to Marjorie. “What did he look like?”

“He had darker skin, Hispanic maybe, with a very sexy accent, and—”

Lucas’s phone rang.

Hispanic? Calliope thought.

Oh, shit …

“Excuse me a second.” He yanked his phone from his back pocket, moved a few feet away, and turned his back to them. A minute later, he spun back, and his gaze darted to Calliope.

“When?” He listened, his attention locked on her. “Sammy’s sure it was him?” He raked his fingers through his hair. “No, we can’t wait for the team to get here. Calliope and I will deal with him.” He nodded. “Will do. Thanks.”

Lucas ended the call .

Whatever Jonathan told him was not good.

“Triano is here.” He charged over to Marjorie, causing her to falter back a few steps. “How long ago was the man here, and what did you tell him?”

“He was here about … about forty-five minutes or so ago, and … he said he was a friend of yours.” She glanced over at Calliope. “He wanted to surprise Lucas, so I—”

“Oh, my God. You told him how to find my house, didn’t you?” When she didn’t answer right away, Calliope shouted, “Didn’t you!”

Marjorie flinched.

“He told me he used to work with Lucas at his helicopter business in Colombia.” Her voice took on a whiny quality that irritated Calliope almost as much as her phony singsong voice. “I just thought—”

“Son of a bitch,” Lucas cursed.

They turned, ran back through the gate and around to the side of the B&B, where they’d parked the truck earlier.

“Here, you drive.” Calliope tossed him the key fob and tapped her dad’s number on the screen. She put the phone to her ear as she climbed into the passenger side of the truck.

One ring. Two. Three. Voicemail.

“Dammit.” She hung up and tried Granddad’s number.

Same thing—voicemail.

Her heart hammered in her ears and against her chest .

“No luck?” He gave her a quick look, then focused back on the road.

“No.” She shook her head.

Lucas stomped on the gas, the truck lurched, and they roared down the two-lane road, kicking up dead leaves in their wake.

Calliope closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and tapped into the disciplined, trained killer she’d become. She opened her eyes, pulled her pistol from her waist, and made sure there was a round in the chamber.

No one, NO ONE hurt her family and lived.

Lucas couldn’t fucking believe it. Triano was there—and he’d led him right to Calliope’s doorstep.

“I’m so sorry, Sunshine.” His grip tightened on the wheel, and he gave her a quick look. “I should’ve—”

“Stop.” She reached over and stroked his forearm. “You had no way of knowing he would follow you. Hell, I figured the psycho took off for parts unknown.”

Lucas’s phone rang. He checked the screen and saw two names on the call.

“It’s Jonathan and Cole.” He handed his cell to Calliope .

“Hey, guys, Lucas is driving, so I’ll put you on speaker.” She tapped the speaker icon. “Go ahead.”

“The car Triano rented has a GPS, and Sammy tracked it to a spot on the road about a half mile from the entrance to your property, Calliope.” Jonthan rustled papers in the background. “Looks like it’s been in that same location for about thirty minutes.”

She turned to Lucas. “That’s plenty of time for him to hike back to the house.”

“I’m sending the car’s coordinates to both of you,” Jonathan said.

Lucas and Calliope’s phones pinged.

“I’ll put this in the truck’s GPS.” She tapped the screen on the dash a few times, and a disembodied woman’s voice came from the truck’s speaker, directing them to the rental car. “That’s right ahead of us, around that next curve.” She reached into her glove box and pulled out her big knife. “To flatten his tires.”

“Cole, how the hell did Triano find out where I was?” Lucas raised his voice to ensure they could hear him over the growling engine.

“His wife’s cousin works airstrip maintenance at the airport there in Santa Marta. He has five children, one with special needs, and his family depends on money from Triano to survive,” Cole said. “I’m sure the asshole leveraged that to coerce the cousin into keeping his eyes open for any unusual activity. Our guess is, the guy noticed the OSI jet on the tarmac and contacted Triano.”

“Lucas, you know a man named Davidson?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah. Guy’s a scumbag, a real opportunist with no moral compass.” Lucas had seen the guy hanging around the airport, passing out his business cards, trolling for customers. “He’ll fly anyone anywhere for the right price.” And he played fast and loose with regulations. “He’s the one who flew Triano to the States?”

“Yeah,” Jonathan said. “You sound surprised.”

“I am. Davidson is persona non grata in the States. If he gets caught on US soil, he’ll be immediately detained and arrested.” He told them about Davidson’s long list of charges, ranging from drug running to transporting human organs obtained through the black market. “Triano must’ve forked over a shitload of cash for him to agree to bring him here.”

Lucas should’ve dealt with that asshole a long time ago, but, as far as he knew, Davidson wasn’t involved with Triano in any way. Perhaps he’d been wrong.

“Actually, it was a drop and go,” Jonathan said. “He didn’t even power down the engines.”

“Why would Triano agree to that?” Calliope gave Lucas a puzzled look. “The man is on the international watch list, for criminy’s sake. He has to know that with tightened airport security, facial recognition, and all of that stuff, his chances of getting out of the States is going to be next to impossible.”

“Maybe he thinks he’ll be able to find someone else like Davidson who will fly him out of there,” Cole said.

“Could be, but right now, his primary goal is to destroy me.” Lucas knew firsthand how being singularly focused on revenge could make a man do dumb things. “He won’t stop until he does.”

“Then we’ll just have to destroy him first.” Calliope reached over and smoothed her hand down his thigh.

“Sammy and Luna have been busy tracking down any hidden bank accounts Triano might have. So far, they’ve come across two. They managed to hack into the accounts and changed all of the access codes.” You could hear the pride in Jonathan’s voice. Not just for Sammy’s abilities but for those of his sister-in-law. “Without his money, Triano is royally screwed.”

“He won’t need money when I’m done with him,” Calliope growled.

“When we’re done with him.” Lucas gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

She nodded in agreement, because now they shared a common goal.

“I’m sorry we don’t have time to get the team there, Calliope.” Cole’s voice held a tinge of regret. “Unfortunately, by the time they reroute the plane, I have a feeling you two will have wrapped things up. ”

“You’re right about that,” Calliope said.

Focused, determined, deadly. This was the woman he’d made the huge mistake of underestimating in Colombia. He would never make that mistake again.

“We’re coming up on the car now.” Lucas slowed down. “We’ll touch base when we’re done.”

Jonathan and Cole said “Good luck” at the same time and ended the call.

Lucas pulled off to the shoulder and stopped in front of the older model car with a dent in the back, left quarter panel.

Calliope unsheathed her knife, swung the door open, and hopped down out of the truck. She circled the car and stabbed the knife deep into every single tire. When she was done, she drew back her hand, turned her face away, and used the butt of the knife to smash in the side window. She checked the front and back seats, then popped the trunk and ran around to inspect its contents. She reached up, slammed it shut, and dashed back to the truck.

“There’s a large suitcase filled with clothes, passports, bank books, and a bunch of other stuff in the trunk, including an empty box of forty-five ACP ammo.” She checked their surroundings.

“What’s your plan?” This was her world, and he trusted her to take the lead.

“Go ahead and drive up to our private road, turn onto it, then stop when you see a big cypress covered by purple orchids.” She reached down and tightened the laces on her boots.

“You got it.” Lucas put the truck in gear and drove the short distance until he saw the big metal mailbox with their last name printed on it. He turned onto the dirt road and drove about one hundred yards.

“There it is.” She used the knife to point to a small clearing on the right, just barely big enough for her truck. “Go ahead and pull in right next to that tree.”

He turned the engine off, drew his semiautomatic from his hip holster, and popped out the magazine.

“I’ve got an extended mag with a total of nineteen rounds.” He slammed the full magazine back in place with his hand. “How about you?”

“Same.” She turned in the seat to face him.

“What’s the plan?” Lucas pocketed the key fob.

“I’m going to hike from here to the house, do some recon, and grab the rifle I have hidden in the garage.”

“You have a rifle hidden in your garage?” Why that surprised him, he wasn’t sure.

“Of course. Don’t you?” Her brows drew together, and she looked at him like he was a fool. “Once I’ve secured my rifle and sized up the situation, I’ll text you. I’ll enter through my bedroom window, and by the time he knows I’m there, it’ll be too late. Here’s the tricky part: In order for me to get up the back steps and in through the window”—she hesitated, chewed her bottom lip—“I need you to pull up to the front of the house and draw his attention away from me.”

“No problem.” It was a solid plan.

“Just like that? No problem ?”

What she was really asking was whether he was going to pull another overprotective, bonehead move again or if he was going to trust her completely.

“I trust you, Sunshine.” One hundred percent.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “That means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome.” He patted her leg.

He opened the GPS app and input her address. The aerial view filled the screen, and he pinched and zoomed in on their house and the large workshop in front of it.

“Let’s do this,” Lucas said.

They climbed out of the truck and walked over to the edge of the woods.

He started to lift her up, and she stopped him. “Your shoulder.”

Instead, he drew her to him, bent down, and kissed her deep and long. She circled her arms around him, and they hugged each other tight for a moment, then he forced himself to release her. “Please be careful.” I can’t lose you.

“You, too.” She placed a lingering kiss to the center of his chest that he felt all the way to his heart and looked up at him. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” He gave her a last kiss—for now—and stepped back.

“Give me ten minutes, then I’ll text you.” Calliope held the knife in one hand and checked that her gun was secure in her waistband.

She winked at him before carefully slipping through the barbed-wire fence and disappearing into the thick saw palmetto underbrush.

Lucas blew out a long breath, climbed into the truck, and waited for her text.